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In this blog, Automation Consultants seeks to provide useful information for small- and medium-sized businesses, especially ideas and results not readily available in popular media. All materials presented are either our own work or reproduced with attribution, and permission if required. We include articles from Microsoft and Socius, companies with which we are affiliated. We strive to be fact-based and objective in all of our endeavors, but cannot guarantee the relevancy or accuracy of materials included. Click on titles for direct links.

From www.eurekalert.com Saarland University Researchers from the Competence Center for IT Security, CISPA, at the Saarland University have developed a kind of early warning system for this purpose. Details and first results will be presented by the scientists at the computer fair Cebit in Hannover. These mass cyber attacks, known as "Distributed Denial of Service" (DDoS) attacks, are considered to Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com Hospital for Special Surgery Doctor affability, availability and ability important to patients When looking for a doctor, many consumers turn to websites that post physician ratings and reviews. A study at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) found that reviews for individual sports medicine doctors were inconsistent when compared on three popular physician rating websites. "Consumer-driven healthcare and an Continue Reading...

https://www.propublica.org/article/can-customs-border-protection-search-phone-legal-rights Recent detentions and seizures of phones and other material from travelers to the United States have sparked alarm. We detail what powers Customs and Border Protection officials have over you and your devices. by Patrick G. Lee ProPublica, March 13, 2017, 12:55 p.m. A traveler is fingerprinted while his paperwork is checked in a passport control line at Newark Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com Society of Interventional Radiology WASHINGTON, DC (March 8, 2017)--Interventional radiologists at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) are using technology found in self-driving cars to power a machine learning application that helps guide patients' interventional radiology care, according to research presented today at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 2017 Annual Scientific Meeting. The researchers used cutting-edge Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com North Carolina State University Research from North Carolina State University finds that the number of backers a new product attracts during crowdfunding predicts the financial success of the product when it reaches the marketplace - but the amount of money raised during crowdfunding does not. "A lot of people initially see crowdfunding solely as a way to raise Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com University of Waterloo Giving people time to think about cooperating on a task can have a positive effect if they are big-picture thinkers, but if they tend to focus on their own, immediate experience, the time to think may make them less cooperative, University of Waterloo research has found. A series of three experiments, conducted by University of Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com University of Texas at Dallas High costs of production and labor, combined with high rates of technological change, often cause manufacturers in developed countries to take their production offshore to lower-cost sources. Dr. Kathryn Stecke, Ashbel Smith Professor of operations management, recently studied a production system called seru that is used by the electronics industry that creates an Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com Only 5 percent of patients know whether their doctor receives industry-backed gifts or payments Springer More than three in every five Americans see a doctor who receives some form of payment from industry. This is according to a new survey led by Genevieve Pham-Kanter of Drexel University's Dornsife School of Public Health in the US. It is the Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com University of Surrey A new study, 'The dark side of business travel: A media comments analysis', by academics at the University of Surrey and Lund University, published today in the journal Transportation Research Part D, analyses first hand responses on the impacts that frequent business travel can have on individuals. The study is an in-depth analysis of the Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com Universitat Rovira i Virgili The Darknet is a part of the internet that people can access and use anonymously. This privacy and the ability to work away from prying eyes means that the network is frequently used for anonymous exchanges of sensitive information and for illegal activities such as drug trafficking, sharing child pornography or exchanging protected intellectual Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com Rutgers University Does your smartphone spew a relentless stream of text messages, push alerts, social media messages and other noisy notifications? Well, Rutgers experts have developed a novel model that can predict your receptiveness to smartphone interruptions. It incorporates personality traits and could lead to better ways to manage a blizzard of notifications and limit interruptions - if Continue Reading...

From www.erukalert.com Oregon State University CORVALLIS, Ore. - Environmental scientists and policymakers value long-term research to an extent that far outstrips the amount of funding awarded for it, according to a study published today. Graduate students and faculty members in the Oregon State University College of Science were part of a collaboration that evaluated the perceived benefits of long-term ecological Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com The United States needs a 'translational science of democracy' Ohio State University COLUMBUS, Ohio - Our fractured political climate in the United States might be made worse by how we approach difficult problems, researchers say in the journal Science. A team of political scientists suggests rather than asking citizens "What do you want," questions should be asked in Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com University of Warwick Study finds link between sedentary work, larger waist circumference & risk of heart disease People with no risk factors for heart disease walk at least seven miles per day or spend seven hours per day upright. A new study shows further evidence for the view that spending too much time sitting down is bad for Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Intensive care units (ICUs) are one of the most challenging and complex environments in today's health-care system. ICU nurses, who perform various tasks critical to ensuring the safety of patients under their care, are frequently interrupted throughout the workday, sometimes as often as 15 times per hour. The effects of single interruptions in Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com New study shows paid sick leave is key for using preventive care services: Workers without paid sick leave 1.6 times less likely to get a flu shot Florida Atlantic University More than 20 million Americans have gained health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and do not have to pay for 15 preventive screenings recommended by Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com University of Michigan ANN ARBOR--Whether a nation should retaliate against a cyber attack is a complicated decision, and a new framework guided by game theory could help policymakers determine the best strategy. The "Blame Game" was developed in part by Robert Axelrod, a University of Michigan political scientist who is well known for solving a version of the Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com American College of Physicians Washington (March 1, 2017) The American College of Physicians (ACP) today addressed a letter to House and Senate leadership offering its thoughts -- including concerns -- about the impact on access, quality, and cost of possible proposed changes to the ACA. Previous letters to Congress from ACP emphasized that any changes to current law, Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com Washington State University The encryption codes that safeguard internet data today won't be secure forever. Future quantum computers may have the processing power and algorithms to crack them. Nathan Hamlin, instructor and director of the WSU Math Learning Center, is helping to prepare for this eventuality. He is the author of a new paper in the Open Journal Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com Drexel University Great ideas so often get lost in translation -- from the math teacher who can't get through to his students, to a stand-up comedian who bombs during an open mic night. But how can we measure whether our audiences understand what we're trying to convey? And better yet, how can we improve that exchange? Drexel University Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com Lack of corporate responsibility often a deal-breaker for young workers, University of Missouri study finds University of Missouri-Columbia Much has been made in popular culture about millennials as they join the working world, including their tendency to job hop. Although this behavior often is explained as a loyalty issue, new research from the University of Missouri reveals one Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com MU researcher's analysis shows personal ethical breaches can affect trust and diminish value, operations University of Missouri-Columbia A CEO outed for lying on a resume. An executive caught assaulting someone. A manager arrested for driving under the influence. These events certainly cast shadows on individuals, but a new study from Adam Yore, an assistant professor of finance in Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com SAGE Los Angeles, CA (February 23, 2017) A hospital-wide communication training program, outlining best practices for doctors to follow in interactions with patients, improved patients' perception of doctor communication by 9 percent, according to new research. Out today in the American Journal of Medical Quality (SAGE Publishing journal), the study details the largest known experiment of its kind Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com Academy of Medical Sciences (UK) In a new campaign, launched today (Thursday 23 February) in a special issue of The Lancet, the Academy of Medical Sciences will recognise the different people and diverse working styles currently operating in medical research in the UK. The campaign, called #MedSciLife, brings together the personal stories of those working in medical sciences Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev BEER-SHEVA, Israel...Feb. 22, 2017 - Researchers at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) Cyber Security Research Center have demonstrated that data can be stolen from an isolated "air-gapped" computer's hard drive reading the pulses of light on the LED drive using various types of cameras and light sensors. In the Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com Physicists use condensed matter theory to explore whether personal initiative can overcome frustration and create more equality DOE/Los Alamos National Laboratory LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Feb. 22, 2017--In a new study published today in the journal PLOS ONE, Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists have taken a condensed matter physics concept usually applied to the way substances such as ice Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com University of Texas at Dallas Research challenges accepted notions about the 1950s postwar economy and argues that policies from that era laid foundation for future growth Economists call it the Great Moderation: the long stretch of low inflation and steady growth in the United States and seven other developed nations from the mid-1980s until the recession hit in Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com The JAMA Network Journals An analysis of 28 commercial physician-rating websites finds that search mechanisms are cumbersome, and reviews scarce, according to a study appearing in the February 21 issue of JAMA. Patients are increasingly seeking information about physicians online. Nearly 60 percent report that online reviews are important when choosing a physician. Because publicly reported quality data Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com Queensland University of Technology Company bosses need to walk-the-walk when it comes to greening their business with technology, with new QUT research finding that just buying green IT, doesn't make you green. Professor Jan Recker, from the QUT Business School, said investment in Green IT paid off in terms of reducing costs but to generate green reputational and Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com Highly creative people have significantly more nerve connections between the right and left hemispheres Duke University DURHAM, N.C. -- Seemingly countless self-help books and seminars tell you to tap into the right side of your brain to stimulate creativity. But forget the "right-brain" myth -- a new study suggests it's how well the two brain hemispheres communicate that Continue Reading...

From www,eurekalert.com University of Vermont Why does some research lead to changes in public policy, while other studies of equal quality do not? That crucial question - how science impacts policy - is central to the research of University of Vermont (UVM) Prof. Taylor Ricketts and recent alum Stephen Posner. According to their findings, the most effective way environmental scholars Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com Northwestern Law professor will examine barriers to effective engagement Northwestern University CHICAGO --- Northwestern Pritzker School of Law's Shari Diamond, one of the foremost empirical researchers on jury process and legal decision-making, will address the importance of involving scientists in the legal system at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting in Boston. Diamond's Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com University of Wisconsin-Madison BOSTON -- The rise of fake news has dominated the world of politics since the last U.S. election cycle. But fake news is not at all new in the world of science, notes University of Wisconsin-Madison Life Sciences Communication Professor Dominique Brossard. "Fake news about science has always existed," she says. "What has changed now Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com Konstanz researcher publishes study on how recognition affects motivation University of Konstanz The researchers conducted an experiment with a cohort of more than 300 first-year students in the Netherlands who attended microeconomics tutorials in 15 pre-selected and stable groups. The top 30% students in 8 randomly chosen groups were unexpectedly praised for their performance on the first of Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com Cross-border studies more than doubled in 15 years Ohio State University BOSTON - Even those who follow science may be surprised by how quickly international collaboration in scientific studies is growing, according to new research. The number of multiple-author scientific papers with collaborators from more than one country more than doubled from 1990 to 2015, from 10 to Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com American Association for the Advancement of Science WASHINGON, D.C. -- The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) will release a new report Connecting Scientists to Policy Around the World: Landscape Analysis of Mechanisms Around the World Engaging Scientists and Engineers in Policy, that documents best practices for immersive science-policy connection mechanisms. A session on the report Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com The JAMA Network Journals Patients whose surgeons had a history of higher numbers of patient complaints had an increased risk of surgical and medical complications, according to a study published online by JAMA Surgery. Patient complaints are associated with risk of medical malpractice claims. Because lawsuits may be triggered by an unexpected adverse outcome superimposed on a strained Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com Wolters Kluwer Health February 14, 2017 - Nurses in all roles and specialties face complex ethical situations that challenge their values, giving rise to moral distress. New approaches to overcoming the challenges of moral distress by increasing moral resilience are presented in a supplement to the February issue of the American Journal of Nursing. The journal is published Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com University of Birmingham Researchers at the University of Birmingham have developed a new 'early warning system' that could help policymakers around the world take action to avert or lessen the impact of financial crisis. Existing prediction systems failed to forecast the global crash of 2008, which led to several governments bailing out their banks and European nations, such Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.org Association for Psychological Science We love to tell friends and family about experiences we've had and they haven't--from exotic vacations to celebrity sightings--but new research suggests that these stories don't thrill them quite as much as we imagine. A series of studies published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, shows that both speakers Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com Society for Personality and Social Psychology Washington, DC - People make decisions every day, some trivial, like what to eat for lunch, while others are more significant -- career, marriage, buying a home. A series of studies conducted by Jeff Hughes and Abigail Scholar (University of Waterloo) show that how people make their decisions, not just the outcome, Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalaert.com Wolters Kluwer Health February 13, 2017 - How many patients die in the hospital as a result of preventable medical errors? While debate continues over estimates based on flawed data, the US healthcare system can and must implement effective strategies to reduce adverse events and deaths, according to a special perspective article in the March Journal of Patient Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com Credit: Credit: Christopher Moore, Georgia Tech Cybersecurity researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a new form of ransomware that can take over control of a simulated water treatment plant. After gaining access, they were able to command programmable logic controllers (PLCs) to shut valves, increase the amount of chlorine added to water, and display false Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com University of California - Berkeley Haas School of Business UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY'S HAAS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS--When Google Books digitized 40 years worth of copyrighted and out-of-copyright issues of Baseball Digest magazine, Wikipedia editors realized they had scored. Suddenly they had access to pages and pages of player information from a new source. Yet not all information could Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com Harvard University Researchers have long known that bias can have an impact on hiring, but a new Harvard study suggests that it may also affect workplace performance. Co-authored by Amanda Pallais, the Paul Sack Associate Professor of Political Economy and Social Studies, the study - based on data collected from a French grocery store chain -- found that Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com Baylor University Incubators compete against other university activities for integral resources, Baylor professor says Credit: Courtesy of Peter Klein WACO, Texas (Feb. 8, 2017) - The establishment of university-affiliated incubators is often followed by a reduction in the quality of university innovations, according to a new study co-authored by a Baylor University entrepreneurship professor. The study, published in Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com University of Southern California Credit: Susanica Tam, USC Hispanic immigrant and African American men work in jobs with the highest risk of injury, according to a new study of workplace injuries and disability. "We found that their risk was higher even when we accounted for education and other demographic characteristics," said lead author Seth Seabury, director of the Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com Credit: Salk Institute LA JOLLA--(February 9, 2017) Although we spend a lot of our time online nowadays--streaming music and video, checking email and social media, or obsessively reading the news--few of us know about the mathematical algorithms that manage how our content is delivered. But deciding how to route information fairly and efficiently through a distributed system with Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com ecancermedicalscience A new study surveying authors from a range of countries investigates the crucial differences between authors who publish in high- and low-impact factor medical journals. This original research shows that the growth of open access hasn't significantly changed the publishing landscape as regards impact factor. The authors, Carlos Eduardo Paiva et al, from Brazil, collected responses from Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.org University of Cambridge Worries over wasting their doctor's time, particularly at a time when NHS resources are stretched, may influence when and whether patients choose to see their GP, according to a study carried out by the University of Cambridge. In the study, published today in the journal Social Science and Medicine, researchers from the Cambridge Centre for Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.org ... University of Vienna Optional moral assessment can promote cooperation more effectively than compulsory moral assessment Moral systems are key to distinguishing between "good" and "bad" and are essential to the establishment of social orders. For instance, a rule of thumb for maintaining cooperation within a sizable group is to help those who have a good reputation and Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com Massachusetts Institute of Technology CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Every other year, the International Conference on Automated Planning and Scheduling hosts a competition in which computer systems designed by conference participants try to find the best solution to a planning problem, such as scheduling flights or coordinating tasks for teams of autonomous satellites. On all but the most straightforward problems, Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com University of Central Florida A brisk walk or a long swim may be the key to preventing a bad day at the office from spilling over into the home. A study published this month in the Journal of Applied Psychology tracked participants' sleep patterns and daytime physical movements found employees who recorded an average of more than 10,900 Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com Credit: UT Dallas Many entrepreneurs dream of leading a successful company. But launching a startup is only the first step. By using more than three decades of experience as an entrepreneur and turnaround executive, Dr. Joseph Picken of the Naveen Jindal School of Management lays out a road map for the founding entrepreneur who seeks to retain the Continue Reading...

Link: www.eurekalert ... Princeton University Crowd wisdom such as what might arise from online voting is popularly assumed to provide better answers than any one person by aggregating multiple perspectives. Democratic methods, however, tend to favor the most popular information, not necessarily the most correct. The ignorance of the masses can cancel out a knowledgeable minority with specialized information of Continue Reading...

Link: www.eurekalert.org ... Human Factors and Ergonomics Society People generally make decisions using two ways of thinking: They think consciously, deliberate for a while, and try to use logic to figure out what action to take -- referred to as analytical cognition. Or people unconsciously recognize patterns in certain situations, get a "gut feeling," and take action based on that Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.org Online scrutiny is stressful for doctors Study investigates use of and perceptions about physician rating websites Springer Online ratings and discussions about the quality of care American doctors provide can add to their stress levels. Patients, on the other hand, feel that such information empowers them to make better informed health-related choices. This is according to a study¹ Continue Reading...

University of Toronto From www.eurekalert.org ... TORONTO, ON (Canada) - A University of Toronto study on uncertainty in scientific research could shed light on anomalies that arose in early attempts to discover the Higgs boson and even how polls failed to predict the outcome of Donald Trump winning the U.S. presidential election. Published recently in the journal Royal Society Open Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.org British Psychological Society People who work for bosses who display psychopathic and narcissistic traits not only feel more depressed due to their bosses bullying behaviour they are also more likely to engage in undesirable behaviours at work. These are the key findings of a research team from the University of Manchester's Business School. Lead researcher Abigail Phillips will Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.org British Psychological Society A new study shows that while many of us cannot do our job without email, it can stress us out - and that personality differences affect how we use email and what we find stressful. The results of the study are being presented this week, Friday 6 January 2017, at the British Psychological Society's Division Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.com Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign IMAGE: Miscanthus plots (left and right) tower over kitty-corner plots of switchgrass (top and bottom) at the University of Illinois Energy Farm. A new study used a bioenergy database to confirm... view more Credit: L. Brian Stauffer, University of Illinois Scientists have confirmed that Miscanthus, long speculated Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.org University of Toronto IMAGE: Brian Connelly is an Associate Professor in the Department of Management at U of T Scarborough. view more Credit: Ken Jones A new model for identifying personality traits may help organizations save money by improving the hiring process and with evaluating employee performance. The model, developed by Brian Connelly, an associate professor in U of Continue Reading...

www.eurekalert.org Drexel University It has been widely thought that brand search volume -- the counts of queries that a search engine receives from users that include specific brand names, like "iPhone" -- can predict sales for that brand. Google makes this information available to marketers for free through Google Trends, an application that allows anyone to see how frequently popular Continue Reading...

From www.eurekalert.org ... If China wishes to move from investment-led growth to sustainable, innovative growth, it will need to improve its intellectual property protection INSEAD As China's working age population shrinks and cheap labour dries up, the country's leaders have been keen to stress the urgency to move from an economy based on investment and heavy industry to a sustainable, Continue Reading...

Duke University From www.eurekalert.org ... Green innovations must be developed and spread globally 10 times faster than in the past if we are to limit warming to below the Paris Agreement's 2 degrees C target A hybrid wind and solar power system in Zirje, Croatia, includes 2,400 Watts of wind turbines and 4,000 watts of solar cells. view more Credit: Continue Reading...

Link: www.propublica.org ... More words won’t solve your design problem. by Lena Groeger ProPublica, Sep. 21, 2016, 10 a.m. This story was co-published with Source. The EpiPen, the potentially life-saving device that delivers a dose of medicine to people having a severe allergic reaction, has been all over the news for its outrageous price spike. Going up 500 percent in Continue Reading...

Link: www.eurekalert.org ... 13-Sep-2016 Cell Press IMAGE: This figure shows issues contributing to suboptimal reproducibility of preclinical research. view more Credit: Daniel Drucker/Cell Metabolism 2016 Daniel Drucker's unofficial laboratory slogan is "I'd rather be third and right, than first and wrong." As a clinician-scientist who has spent 30 years developing new drugs for diabetes, gastrointestinal disease, and obesity, he has seen Continue Reading...

Link: www.Eurekalert.org ... 6-Sep-2016 Findings are mixed but evidence is strongest for suicides and mental health problems BMJ A review of studies investigating the 2008 recession in Europe show it was associated with adverse health outcomes, particularly for suicides and mental health problems, finds a study in The BMJ today. However, the authors warn that most published studies on this Continue Reading...

Link: www.eurekalert.org ... 6-Sep-2016 A new metric, known as the Relative Citation Ratio (RCR), will allow researchers to measure the influence of a scientific article, regardless of publication and scientific field. While RCR cannot replace expert review, it does overcome many of the issues faced by previous metrics. RCR was developed by scientists with the Office of Portfolio Analysis (OPA), Continue Reading...

Link: www.eurekalert.org ... 5-Sep-2016 American College of Physicians 1. Heavy burden of EHRs could contribute to physician burnout For every hour physicians spend with patients, nearly 2 additional office hours are spent on clerical work Abstract: http://www.annals.org/article.aspx?doi=10.7326/M16-0961 Editorial: http://www.annals.org/article.aspx?doi=10.7326/M16-1757 URLs go live when the embargo lifts For every hour physicians provide direct clinical face time to patients, nearly two additional Continue Reading...

Link: www.eurekalert.org ... 5-Sep-2016 University of Warwick IMAGE: This is Andrew Oswald. view more Credit: University of Warwick New research from the Cass Business School, the University of Warwick and the University of Wisconsin shows that women ask for wage rises just as often as men, but men are 25 per cent more likely to get a raise when they ask. Continue Reading...

Link: www.eurekalert.org 2-Sep-2016 Papers and panels will address human-centered issues in cyber operations, including situation awareness, vigilance, task-switching, and training Human Factors and Ergonomics Society As the incidence of data breaches that threaten security and privacy increases, governments and organizations are struggling to put barriers in place to prevent consequences such as terror attacks and identity theft. The more data Continue Reading...

Link: www.eurekalert.org ... 1-Sep-2016 Frontiers IMAGE: Etu and Ela, two wolf pups at the Wolf Centre view more Credit: Rooobert Bayer Would you rather get 100 euros for certain, or have a fifty-fifty chance of receiving either 200 euros or nothing? Most choose the first, as humans tend to be "risk-averse", preferring a guaranteed pay-off over the possibility of a greater Continue Reading...

Link: www.eurekalert.org ... 1-Sep-2016 MU researchers conduct first national study linking IT sophistication and quality measures University of Missouri-Columbia IMAGE: Greg Alexander, professor in the Sinclair School of Nursing, says that if nursing home staff have access to the right technological tools and are using them to facilitate resident care,... view more Credit: MU News Bureau COLUMBIA, Mo. - A significant Continue Reading...

Link: www.eurekealert.org ... 30-Aug-2016 Friends are no better than strangers in accurately identifying emotion in emails Reliance on friendship and context to interpret emotion in email is ineffective International Communication Association Washington, DC (August 30, 2016) - "OMG I just LOVE pizza." Is this statement sarcastic? Is it heartfelt? As our everyday communication is increasingly text-driven, inferring emotion from messages Continue Reading...

Link: www.eurekalert.org... 30-Aug-2016 Single women with personal wealth more likely to become entrepreneurs than men University of Stirling A new economic study by the University of Stirling and Royal Holloway, University of London has found evidence that there is a big difference in cash flow problems faced by men and women in the UK. They found single women face more Continue Reading...

Link: www.eurekalert.org... 29-Aug-2016 Intelligent technology: The evolution and future of automation Control 5.0: From Newton to Merton in Popper's Cyber-Social-Physical Spaces Chinese Association of Automation The world's oldest board game still has a few moves to play. Go, a game of strategy and instinct considered more difficult to master than chess, was created roughly in the same era as the written Continue Reading...

Link: www.pri.org/stories... How advances in automation will change the future of work August 28, 2016 We call it automation. And while you likely won’t hear this spoken aloud amid all the semi-factual rhetoric of an election season, most experts say that many more jobs have been lost in the last 25 years to automation than to trade policy. And it’s Continue Reading...

Link: www.eurekalert.org... 26-Aug-2016 Businesses that show commitment to sustainability inspire greener customers Simon Fraser University Spending a little to prove a commitment to sustainability can help tourism industry businesses such as hotels inspire customers to conserve resources--and save money in the process, according to new research from SFU's Beedie School of Business. The study found that hotel guests' willingness to Continue Reading...

Link: www.eurekalert.org... 23-Aug-2016 Study finds changes to retirement savings system may exacerbate economic inequality American Sociological Association SEATTLE -- A shift to defined-contribution retirement plans, such as 401(k) plans, has led to an income and education gap in pension savings that could exacerbate future economic inequality, according to a study that will be presented at the 111th Annual Meeting of Continue Reading...

Link: www.eurekalert.org... 23-Aug-2016 Music at work increases cooperation, teamwork Cornell University IMAGE: Cornell University researchers found that music can have important effects on the cooperative spirits of those exposed to music. view more Credit: Cornell University ITHACA, N.Y. - From casual acoustic melodies at the coffee shop to throbbing electronic beats at teen clothing outlets, music is used to mold customer Continue Reading...

Public Release: 5-Jan-2016 NREL's Min Zhang keeps her 'bugs' happy, leading to biofuel breakthroughs DOE/National Renewable Energy Laboratory National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Senior Scientist Min Zhang has a special relationship with Zymomonas mobilis, a rod-shaped bacterium that has bioethanol-producing capabilities. Of her 80 peer-reviewed papers and 21 U.S. patents in the field of biochemistry and biofuels, many reference this Continue Reading...

Prospering in the new world within the Cloud By TJ, Automation Consultants 14 January 2016 Business and Government in the Cloud The future of internet data security will be an ongoing challenge for both businesses and governments around the world. As applications and devices get smarter it will become more and more important to stay ahead of the malicious players in the Continue Reading...

Specific problems can serve as catalysts to improve your business infrastructure. For example, you may be facing some of the following problems, or more likely, a constellation of them: Federal and State funding cuts Security in a Cloud environment New focus on DCAA compliance Competition from larger and more aggressive companies A dithering array of available software and hardware technologies Continue Reading...

Message to Practicing Accountants in the Southwest An opportunity to improve the business lives of clients through collaboration. Automation Consultants is a small group of expert information system, software, and business professionals. We are Microsoft Partners, but use Microsoft products agnostically. Our hallmark is a holistic and integrative approach. Our byword is equipoise. The most important elements in business are Continue Reading...

Business management software has the power to make or break a company. Professional services firms looking to streamline business operations won't do it through a traditional ERP solution. Traditional ERP software is not designed to track projects or enable project-based accounting. Professional services financials are very specific, and they’re based on resources, projects, clients, time and billing, project materials and Continue Reading...

What if a quilt were made of 100 pieces by 100 people, each with her/his own ideas and scrap material? The result might be interesting or just crazy. Any person assembling the quilt would be challenged to make it balanced and aesthetic, although most would recognize it as a quilt. The French word for this, which we have adopted, is Continue Reading...

Historical Received Not Invoiced Report A new SQL Reporting Services Report based off the current Received Not Invoiced report but add new functionality by adding a cutoff date based on transaction date or GL Post Date to allow customers to use the report for Historical purposes. This report will allow users to see what was received into inventory but not Continue Reading...

Employee Self Service – W2 One of the top suggestions for employee self-service functionality is to let the employee view and print their own W2. With Microsoft Dynamics GP 2015 R2, this functionality is now available as part of Time Management self-service. Pam Misialek 7 May 2015...

Within SmartList Designer a user can send a SmartList through workflow to create a SQL view based on the SmartList query. One active workflow will need to be setup in order for the SQL view to go through the approval process. SmartList workflows will be setup under the Administration series within the Workflow Maintenance window. Pam Misialek 15 May 2015 Continue Reading...

Can "Big Data" work for small companies like it works for big companies? Yes, with proper precautions. Small companies can use the same analysis techniques as big companies but must pay closer attention to data quality and understand the impact of smaller sample sizes. For example, before re-targeting your marketing solely at young millennials, inspect your data to make sure Continue Reading...

The security breaches of 2014 were more numerous than in any previous year. They ranged from nuisance hacks to identity theft to the attempt to extort a major motion picture organization. Many of these attacks were preventable, mostly because prior security breaches have demonstrated flaws, misconfigurations and design mistakes that many other organizations continue to have. Too many fail to Continue Reading...

A top suggestion on the MS Connect site, this feature moves the Debit column to display before the Credit column by default in account transaction reporting options in which the Credit column previously displayed before the Debit column. This applies to SmartLists and Excel Reports, as well as the database tables and views on which the reports are based. Pam Continue Reading...

When the call to start a new project comes, we're often excited, nervous, skeptical, and ambitious all at the same time. At least I know I am. Excited to show what I can do with a new project from beginning to end. Why? Many times we get charged with taking over someone else's mess. Or restarting an old project that Continue Reading...

Within SmartList Designer a user can send a SmartList through workflow to create a SQL view based on the SmartList query. One active workflow will need to be setup in order for the SQL view to go through the approval process. SmartList workflows will be setup under the Administration series within the Workflow Maintenance window. Pam Misialek 15 May 2015...

The Microsoft Dynamics GP team has created a new app that is available for Windows 8, iOS iPad devices, and Android tablets. This app will allow GP Employees to enter Vacation and Sick time in Payroll or time off against Benefit Timecodes within HR. The app will use the settings within Dynamics GP to determine what types of pay codes Continue Reading...

In the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2015 R2 release a Self Service user type was added. This user type will enable users that only require very limited access to the system a less expensive option to perform tasks such as entering payroll time, entering project time and expenses, or creating a requisition. This feature also includes Employee Self Service Security Roles Continue Reading...

This feature provides improvements to SmartLists and Excel Reports for Analytical Accounting (AA) transaction information. The first improvement is an expansion of the amount of information available to be included as columns in the AA SmartLists and Excel Reports. AA tracks a lot of information for each record, and we’ve included more of this data in the SmartLists and Excel Continue Reading...

This is a newly designed window inside of Microsoft Dynamics GP to enable users to view related purchasing documents in the same window. Accessible from the Vendor Maintenance window, many purchasing inquiry windows, Navigation lists and even the Home Page this window will save users time in searching for all relevant information for a purchasing document. The Filter icon allows Continue Reading...

A critical element in successfully delivering Microsoft Dynamics GP as a cloud offering is the ability to centralize and automate the provisioning and management of the application. Automation speeds up delivery, minimizes human involvement which reduces costs and the possibility of human errors, and can provide self-service functionality to the end user. This feature will add APIs and PowerShell cmdlets Continue Reading...

One of the top suggestions for employee self-service functionality is to let the employee view and print their own W2. With Microsoft Dynamics GP 2015 R2, this functionality is now available as part of Time Management self-service. Pam Misialek 7 May 2015...

Small and midsized businesses worldwide are increasingly looking to the cloud as the preferred method of deploying and consuming software. Within the US market, for example, IDC predicts more than 80% of midsized businesses were expected to employ some form of cloud computing by the end of 2014. As small and midsized businesses (SMBs) become more comfortable with hybrid and Continue Reading...

What makes refunding a customer even more painful than the act itself is the number of tedious steps it would take to process the refund manually. Some of these steps include, posting debit memos, applying documents, creating vendors from customer information, posting miscellaneous invoices, debit/credit account validation for transfer, and processing the actual payment. Luckily, Microsoft Dynamics® GP has a Continue Reading...

This year at Convergence Satya Nadella talked about how we are going to help every organization do more– by making computing more personal, by reinventing productivity and business process and by building the intelligent cloud. The evolution of Convergence reflects the further integration of Dynamics as part of Microsoft’s core business. We are expanding the reach of Convergence with additional Continue Reading...

First let me introduce myself, my name is Kevin Racer and I’m a Senior Program Manager Lead on the Microsoft Dynamics GP team. I spend my days working on improving our architecture and tools. Over the last several months we’ve been looking closely at our architecture in order to understand how it can deliver against the rapidly changing technological landscape Continue Reading...

When supporting Cashbook Management (CBM) for Dynamics GP you may encounter the following error when opening the Bank Statement Reconcile window for new reconcile activity: - There is a problem with this Chequebook's balances. This error usually occurs in CBM when the prior reconcile event for the Chequebook in question was interrupted or did not complete successfully. What often makes Continue Reading...

Invalid length parameter passed to the LEFT or SUBSTRING function error message in Microsoft Dynamics GP 2015 Sign InShare TwitterLinkedInFacebookEmailPrintRSS14 Apr 2015 10:00 AM Hello - It has been identified that in some scenarios after an upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics GP 2015, the following error is encountered within Microsoft Dynamics GP: We have seen the above referenced error occur in Continue Reading...

BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLANNING IN THE HEALTHCARE ENVIRONMENT For the first time in the healthcare industry in the United States, business continuity planning and disaster recovery capability will become mandatory for all healthcare organizations. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), passed by the US Congress in 1996, has as part of its phased implementation “Security Guidelines,” (referring to information Continue Reading...

Global investments in renewable energy rebounded strongly last year, registering a solid 17% increase after two years of declines and brushing aside the challenge from sharply lower crude oil prices. Major expansion of solar installations in China and Japan and record investments in offshore wind projects in Europe helped propel global 2014 investments to $270 billion, a 17% surge from Continue Reading...

Your business is likely focused on customer needs, improving the customer experience in order to strengthen long-term relationships. This makes sense. However, while your attention is on customers, your employees may be feeling slighted. According to a recent study, human resources (HR) isn’t keeping up with changes in the business environment. Lack of technology can lead to unsatisfied employees and Continue Reading...

If you have yet to integrate an accounting system into your daily operations, you should know there are many benefits you’re missing out on. In fact, an unintegrated systems like QuickBooks can cause you to lose time and money due to a lack of proper collaboration. Here’s a closer look at how an unintegrated accounting systems are holding you back as Continue Reading...

Why do some consumers make choices based on their feelings instead of rational assessments? According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, consumers who consider themselves independent are more inclined to rely on feelings when making decisions. "When making a decision, we can either base the decision on how we feel about the different options or on Continue Reading...

The Hawthorne effect — an increase in worker productivity produced by the psychological stimulus of being singled out and made to feel important. Between 1927 and 1932, Harvard Business School professor Elton Mayo and his associates, F.J. Roethlisberger and William J. Disckson led a study at a manufacturing plan in Hawthorne, Illinois to examine the physical and environmental influences of Continue Reading...

Automation Consulting is a the leading provider of Microsoft Dynamics solutions in New Mexico. Our methodology, expertise, and experience is critical in helping clients reduce risk when implementing new business solutions. Automation Consultants has been supporting New Mexico clients for more than 30 years. Experience Matters - Our Methodology Reduces Your Risk ERP Implementation and migration of ERP business systems is where clients Continue Reading...